Circle of Cornelis de Vos,
Flemish 1584-1651-
 
Portrait of a young girl standing...

Circle of Cornelis de Vos,

Flemish 1584-1651-

Portrait of a young girl standing three-quarter length wearing a black dress with lace collar;

oil on panel, 103x80cm

Note: This portrait displays an elegantly dressed young woman, clutching a pair of gloves and resting her other hand on a chair, with a distant landscape visible through the window to the left. De Vos completed a number of portraits similar in layout to the present work, creating engaging compositions which became increasing fashionable during the 2^nd half of his career. The elaborately decorated gloves suggest that this is a portrait to celebrate a marriage and was most likely to be one of a pair, the male sitter now lost. Wedding gloves and portraits were often kept together as symbols of the union and it is documented that during the first half of the century brides would wear their ring on the first finger or little finger, here the sitter is evidently wearing a ring on her little finger. Based on the costume of the sitter, it is believed the work was completed around 1635-40.

De Vos has been praised particularly for conveying the likenesses of children and adolescents with genuine character. Facial expressions are emotive yet restrained and naturalistic, successful due to the artists delicate blending of flesh tones and confident lines of the figure. In 1619, De Vos became a senior member of the Antwerp artists guild. He is thought to have worked alongside Peter Paul Rubens and been a close friend of Anthony van Dyck, who painted his portrait, contributing significantly to the development of portraiture in the seventeenth century Flemish School. Direct similarities with this portrait can be drawn with a painting by de Vos titled 'Portrait of a Lady' held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (no. 89.15.37)